HT-S40R

I know its late, but this is how it went for, I bought it about 2 months ago I typically check all the specs and reviews but this time i didn't, first of all it does not support dolby digital plus, dolby atmos, dts x, or lpcm surround It only supports Dolby Digital, LPCM Linear(2 Channels) and Dolby Digital 2 Channel (with HDMI ARC). Initially I thought it was bad when compared it with my tv speakers (Samsung QN85D) there were also people were complaining that it downmixed anything other dolby digital to 2.0 but ig my tv maybe made any other 5.1/7.1.... channel audio to dolby digital making it not that big of a hassle for my speaker to handle it. The dialogue clarity is not good, rear channels are good with certain movies dont except the rear speakers to play the whole time watching a 5.1 movie its there for background effects but the rear speakers are very good. The Soundbar is meh it just works, My tv speakers are 2.2 40W and the s40r is apparently 600W yet not that powerful as compared to my tv speakers idk why. Overall I would rate it 3/5 it is good for the price but if your tv speakers are good and you don't care about the rear channels.

For the price i think is quite solid. Sometimes it was to much bass, so i didnt even heard voices in movies anymore. And the rear speakers are not really loud. Sometimes unnoticable. But it were good 2 years with it :)

I use it for a few months in a 15m² room in apt. Well it cannot compete with my fathers expensive system in his house but its a huge step from 2 chanel sound from Tv. It does create great emersive effect while wathing movies. Music also sounds nice, im not audiophile btw but 80s pop, techno, house and jazz everything sounds good to me. Sub set to 7-9/12 (but for hiphop or rnb u maybe need more) and speakers volume never more than 45% to not to bother my neighbors. No need for wire connection to side speakers was a big pro for me while making decision. Totally happy with it.

the subwoofer from the HT-S40R is very boomy and the soundbar itself is very dull sounding

Ok for streaming, useless for physical media, as it doesn't support DTS or LPCM Surround.

There are 2 ways to go here, depends on your priorities on which you end up choosing. Don't go for an dollby atmos system, if music listening is what you are after, stick to a 2.1 system and or a soundbar, 2.1, 3.1 or 5.1 path 1: Out of everything that you have listed, I have heard the Sony, would be my pick, haven't heard the LG, but if it is anywhere near the combination of LG SC9S with a spk8 and or if you can demo it, I'd say go for it because the combo I mentioned sounded pretty nice, but for the slightly high treble, which can be adjusted through the remote, and might be even better than the sony. The samsung 600B is nice, but it kinda messes up the sound when the volume is maxed, which in my books even though you won't be running it at max most of the time is a minus. The Sony S40R by far is the nicest sounding of them all barring the lg(haven't listened to it) the only slight issue is it needs wireing for the rears? if I remember correctly, and the fact that it has only 1 hdmi port, okay if you plan on attaching it to a smart TV, not so much when you have a firestick and a bunch of other things. in terms of sound and music listening specificly, it's quite good. If you can strech your budget a bit more, and don't mind wires, try getting either the sony 500RF or 700RF 700 is significantly more than your budget, but sounds as much good for that price. path 2: If you are willing to forgo certain newer tech such as blutooth, hdmi etc, the logitech z906 will shake your world and windos in your budget and would give you the sound to jump for in or around 30k. TLDR: listen to the lg, sony is best among all those, no experience with Zebronics, for the odball but best sound? logitech z906. Hope that helps some

whilst it is true that you should go for the soundbars that support at least dolbby digital plus, DTS the lg 65 is quite horrible sounding and I'd suggest staying away from it as far as possible. would suggest going for the sony, only because it sounds a lot better, although a bit bass heavy at times.

If you can extend your budget then go for sony HT S40R